ISBN: 0-7887-4631-6 Order from: Recorded Books Amazon.com Amazon.com
While pleasant in tone and deft and kind in character descriptions, the book starts very slowly and requires considerable patience to get to the satisfying but predictable mystery.
Reviewed by David on December 18, 2004
Genre: Mystery (Amateur Sleuth, Jewish)
Synopsis: Rabbi David Small has been the rabbi of the Jewish community in Barnard's Crossing, Massachusetts, for twenty-five years. While finally his authority is at last unquestioned, her is seriously considering retiring from the rabbinate and doing something different.
However, just as he is looking for teching opportunities, his detective skills are once more called upon as police investigate a deadly accident.
Full Review: While the style of this final book in the series remains pleasant, the first half of the book seems rather rambling. A number of characters are introduced before the main action—the death—begins. Most of the introduced characters are then reduced witnesses once the investigation starts.
The last half of the book returns to satisfying investigation of a mystery. While predictable, the reasoning and observation that leads to solutution of the crime is pleasant.
On the balance, this is a decent book, but one that requires more patience than its predecessors.
Overall: 5; Plot: 4.5; Characters: 5.5; Style: 5.5; World-building: 5; Originality: 6;
Copyright date 1992, Recorded Books, 2000, Audio cassette, 5 Cassettes
ISBN: 0-7887-4631-6 Order from: Recorded Books Amazon.com Amazon.com